How I Plan Meals

I start out with healthified recipes. Why healthified? Basically, I LOVE pizza. And pasta. And breakfast casseroles. Give me white rice every day, and i'm happy. However, I don't want to eat unhealthy, overeat too-large portions, or gain weight! So... enter my favorite foods, made and weighed by me, with reduced-fat and fat-free ingredients, smaller portions, but still lots of flavor. I like being able to lose or maintain my weight and eat right while having sausage and potato casserole for breakfast, chicken enchiladas for lunch and pepperoni pizza for dinner. It makes me smile. Here is an eight-step description of how I plan mine and Austin's meals each week:

1. Get it on paper.On Wednesday or Thursday (at the latest) I set up a list with all of the days. This gives me time to get to the grocery store by Sunday!

Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:

2.Check in.I talk to Austin to see if there are any dinners, lunches, etc. planned. For the ones we’re both attending, I mark ‘OUT’ as in eating out. For the ones it’s just one of us I mark ‘1’ – the other person still has to eat, right? I also note if we’re out of town as I have to pack different food for that (some things don’t reheat/pack/etc. as well as others). This week was pretty easy - only one out to eat on Saturday night!

5.Make a Recipe List. Copy/paste all of the recipes into one document.Makes them easy to find!

6.Make an Ingredient List. I copy/paste all of the ingredient lists into one document, and organize it by “grocery store” sections.

7.Ready to go.Now, I have ONE packet (word document) of all of the recipes in one place including the meal plan, how many servings to cook, and an ingredient list. From here, I simply check the pantry and refrigerator to see what I’m out of, and keep these items on the list. Then I add snacks (yogurt, cheese, crackers, etc.) and household items (shampoo, Comet, etc.) and my grocery list is ready!

8.Cook it up. Print out the packet, go to the grocery store, cook and divide servings into Tupperware (I use Rubbermaid takealongs, and weigh servings on a scale!). I keep the packet on the fridge so I can see at-a-glance what needs to be cooked and when we'll be eating what!

That’s about it! Let me know if you have any questions or if I wasn’t specific about something!